Santa Clara-based Intel is transforming the Olympic Games into a dynamic and engrossing experience by bringing the excitement of the games to athletes’ hometowns around the globe utilizing an ad campaign that showcases how advanced technologies, such as VR, are bringing their stories to life.
Intel captured the stories of these four inspiring athletes as they prepared for the Olympics, resulting in an emotional and engaging three-part series of long-form, documentary-style videos that showcase how Intel VR is bridging the gap between athletes and their biggest fans and families.
The first video features Minnesota’s ice hockey playing sisters, Hannah and Marissa Brandt. Titled, “Two Teams. One Dream,” both share a love for each other and hockey as they go for gold at PyeongChang in Women’s Ice Hockey. The fun here is watching the two play for two different teams – the United States and South Korea respectively.
Intel also takes us into the world of Ayumu Hirano, the amazing 17-year-old snowboarder from Japan who is known for his “goofy” stance. However, this technique, with his right foot forward, clearly works for him when he is taking off from the lips of the pipe, as Hirano holds the record at 14 for being the youngest medalist in X-Games history.
And finally, there is the moving story of 24-year-old Fan Kexin who has been on the Chinese national team since 2010. Kexin has won two silver medals on 500 meters and 3000 meters relay in 2010 ISU World Junior Championships. What is particularly touching in this one is how the Chinese competitor overcame extreme financial hardships on her quest to become an Olympic medalist. Intel VR allows us to join Fan as she shares an emotional look at the crawlspace that she called her bedroom as a child and how she is channeling that struggle into motivation to go for gold.
Intel will also make history during the Winter Olympics by powering the largest scale virtual reality event to-date. Together with Olympic Broadcast Services (OBS), Intel will capture a record 30 Olympic events, that will live on the NBC Sports VR app.
Contact Colin Costello at colin@reelchicago.com or follow him on Twitter @colincostello10.
